James samuel foley



No. 749,045. PATENTED JAN. 5,1904.

J.S.FOLEY.

MOTOR SPARKING PLUG.

APPLIGATION FILEDMAY 29, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

By. '1. my. 2. Fa /J.

l c I WITNESSES UNITED STATES Patented January 5, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES SAMUEL FOLEY, OF WEST BROMWICH, ENGLAND.

MOTOR SPARKIVNG PLUG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 749,045, dated anuary 5, 1904. 7 Application filed May 29, 1903. Serial No. 159,380. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES SAMUEL FOLEY, engineer, acitizen of the United States, residing at High street, West Bromwich, in the county of Staiford, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in M0- tor Sparking Plugs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to sparking plugs for use in connection with the electric ignition systems of internal-combustion engines, and has for its objectto produce an improved plug wherein the terminals are so constructed or formed and mounted that an ample and efficient spark or series of sparks is insured, together with equal expansion and contraction of the terminals in the same direction and at the same time to provide for the easy and eifective cleansing of the surfaces of the terminals.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings re presents an elevation with a part in section of a sparking plug provided with terminals constructed and arranged in accordance with one form of my invention. Fig. 2 is another view in which the union-nut for securing the plug to its cylinder is drawn in section upon the dotted line :12, Fig. 1, was to show the whole of the porcelain insulation in elevation. Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the said plug with union-nut, the terminals, and the inner end portion of the insulation in vertical section, while the body of the said insulation is shown in elevation. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section of Fig. 3 upon the dotted line x while Fig. 5 is a detail view showing more clearly the construction of one of the terminals. Figs. 6 and 7 show two modified arrangements. Fig. 8 is a sectional detail of a further modification.

The same numerals of reference indicate corresponding .parts in the said Figs. 1 to 5.

According to this arrangement, Figs. 1 to 5, it is proposed to connect one of the terminals to the conducting wire or rod 10, which runs axially or otherwise through the insulating body or core 11 of the plug, either in the usual manner by means of nuts or by an external spark-gap device 12, such as is shown inFigs. 1 and 2, while the other terminal, 13,

is carried by a semicircular wire bridge or arch 14, mounted on the end of the metallic union-nut of the plug-that is, a wire bridge starting from one side of the edge of the extreme inner end of the said out and passing over to the other side thereof, as clearly shown in Fig. l, in line with the inner or terminal end of the insulated conductor-rod, to which the high-tension wire from the induction-coil is connected. The said arch carries at the under side of the middle or crown the second terminal, 13, which thus comes directly over and in line with but ata short distance from the axial terminal before referred to. In the modification shown in Fig. 7 the terminal carrier is in the form of' a pand in the same direction as and at the same rate as the insulated conductor-rod and the axial terminals carried thereby, and thus an equal distance between the surfaces of the two terminals is preserved under all circumstances.

Preferably the terminals are of a special construction, as instead of making the same from a solid piece of metal, (platinum or the like,) as usual,I propose to make each or either of them from a bundle, brush,or series ofsmall wires, straight, stranded, or twisted, or arranged closely together side by side after the manner of the teeth of a fine comb, or the plurality of small or fine wires may be arranged in any other way so long as the ends of the wires in the one terminal are presented or opposed to the other terminal, and thus a large number of small sparks will be given off from the component wires,and these sparks will concentrate and produce in the aggregate a spark of large volume of great intensity and power capable of passing through gases in a state of high compression, whereby perfect ignition of the explosive charge in an engine combustion-chamber is insured.

In the construction of plug shown in Figs. 1 to 5 only the one terminal 18 is made from a plurality 'of sixteen or other convenient number of wires, said wires being of different lengths and twistedor fashioned into the pointed or tapering form, as represented, the several wires being held together by inserting same in a sinking 19 in the end of the conductor-rod and heading up or gathering the metal around the inner ends or roots of the said wires, as shown in Fig. 3. This arrangement of terminal insures the concentration or aggregation of the sparks given ofl from the several wires or strands at the summit or tip of the pointed terminal, and thus produces an ample, intense, and powerful spark.

In Fig. 6 the component wires of the terminal 18 are straight, and the ends which project beyond the socket of the conductorrod are directly opposed to the other terminal, which is carried by the arch or bridge, while in Fig. 7 the series or plurality of wires are arranged close together, but side by side or in a single row, somewhat like the teeth of a comb. The wires may either be of different lengths arranged to taper into a point for concentrating the sparks, as in the arrangement represented, or they may all be of the same length.

The terminals 13, carried by the arched or semi-arched brackets, may either be of the solid shown in the drawings, or they may be made up of a plurality of a number of wires bundled, twisted, or otherwise arranged and suitably connected to the said bracket in direct axial line with the terminal 18, which is mounted in the end of theinsulated conductor-rod.

As a further obvious modification (see particularly Fig. 8) a bundle or plurality of twisted or other wires, as 10, may be directed right through the porcelain insulation of the plug, with the inner end forming the terminal piece or sparking-point, or a separate terminal piece may be attached thereto, as illustrated by the other figures.

Having fully described my invention, what I desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent 1. A sparking or igniting plug having a terminal composed of a plurality of fine wires.

2. A sparking or igniting plug having a terminal composed of a plurality of fine wires arranged in tapered form.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES SAMUEL FOLEY.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR SADLER, HARRY OSMOND PRATT. 

